Understanding Rune
by StarsGlow
Summary: Rune is a childish 25 year old who cares about nothing but the cases she gets assigned in the police. But she's the best there is when it comes to solving cases. Her innocent appearance is exactly what she needs to go undercover. She works alone though. There's no exceptions. Not even for the incredibly charming Victor Benedict. He doesn't understand. In her eyes, no one does.
1. Prologue

**Hi! I'm StarsGlow and this is my first time uploading a story on FanFiction :) I really hope you like it!**

I have two personalities. If it weren't so easy to distinguish between them I'd start to worry but, seeing how they help me in my job, I guess it's alright. Whenever is needed I can swap between them, yet I clearly know which is mine. It isn't as obvious for everyone else to see as I've been told that I make my act very convincing, but for me it's the one that feels right. Whilst playing out the others one I feel empty, like I'm fooling the world – and myself – into believing I'm something that I'm not.

One minute I'm cute, the next I'm vicious. One minute I'm adorably childish, the next I'm annoyingly so. Thing is, my real personality isn't the good, cute one. I'm blunt, selfish, and I can easily forget that others have feelings too. I've hurt my friends and family more times than I can count. I excused myself though; people have insulted me in the most colourful of ways in the past, so why shouldn't I?

If they couldn't stand me they should just go away, not force me to endure their presence too. I was really against double sided people (ironically enough), those who pretended to care for you whilst they ripped out your heart, telling you to stop being yourself because they found you to be a monster.

'Monster's' a relative term though. To a mouse, a cat's a monster. Yet to us a cat's a friendly house pet. The only problem with that though was that I hadn't found someone who _didn't_ think I was an abomination for a human being. So I wasn't just a cat, being misunderstood by a mouse; I was a monster, being seen as who I really was by the whole of humanity. I wasn't going to change who I was though – they could whine and beg to their heart's content, I'd continue being myself.

Unless I was on a job. If that was the case, my second personality came in. People liked that one better, thinking it was less scary to talk to it than to me, so whenever I was interviewing a suspect, the charm was turned on. It worked every single time, I had all of them feeding out of my hand. That's why I was so good at my line of work. A single bat of my eyelashes had everyone trusting me, and if that didn't work all I had to do was force my tear-ducts to work overtime. It was logical: the more you made someone think you were weak the more they were willing to pass you off as the less likely person to be a threat.

It sometimes made my head spin, how I could go from being top predator to soft bunny in milliseconds. The trick was though, that that wasn't the case. I was always the lion, stalking its prey, I just hid it well behind my blue eyes and blond hair. No one saw it coming, just as long as I faked well enough.

That was until I found Victor Benedict. He, for some reason, unleashed the full force that was me. I had yet to decide whether that was a good thing or not. Every time I saw him I couldn't keep back the unhelpful remarks and the snarky comebacks. But he was always at the ready to contradict all of my statements, never blinking an eye when I was rude and incomprehensible.

And he wound me up in ways I never thought possible. In fact, I also pushed his buttons a little too far. In the end though, we pulled through, and we got something neither one of us was expecting.

A friendship.

An unsolvable case.

A murderer on our tail.

A puzzle inside both our hearts.

And, despite everything else, somehow we found love.

 **Ok guys, so that's the prologue. It's kind of short though so I'll be posting Chapter 1 today too. That one's length is more similar to what the rest of the chapter length will be for this story (probably between 2,500 and 3,500 words).**

 **I've also already written up Chapter 2 so if i get enough reviews i'll be putting it up tomorrow or monday *hint* *hint* *nudge* *nudge*. So if you liked it, give me a review. Any are appreciated, especially if it has constructive criticism :)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Right, second chapter to be up today :)**

 **Just as a warning though, Victor _will_ be quite OOC in this story because I just thought it suited my story more. Also, if he met his soulfinder he would treat her differently, I'm guessing. So he won't be the stoic, I'm-all-business, type of person, but he will still resemble this a bit.**

 **Oh, and I'm really sorry but I won't be able to make Rune come from Afghanistan 'cause this started off as something I did for fun. And now I basically have no idea how to put it in :/**

 **I hope that stuff doesn't stop you from reading it though :)**

 **Enjoy your reading :D**

As I made my way through the shopping centre, books in hand, I continually checked forward to make sure I was still tailing the suspect. I was trying my damn hardest to stay out of other's way but the place was so crowded it was impossible, especially considering I had to keep my eyes on Jacob Mc Cliffin at all times.

We'd been working on this case for two months now and hadn't gotten a single clue, not even a trace of one. Up until this moment I'd been working in office, allowing other officers to deal with the official investigation – I was better behind scenes anyway. The other reason to keep me back was that if I was kept to the very end, they still had an ace up their sleeve. The big boss liked calling it 'operation blondie' and he only did it if 100% necessary. Putting me in too early might make my investigation just as much of a failure as theirs. And then our chances at catching the murderer would be gone.

You see, I was a short (we're talking 5"2' _tops_ ) blond with big blue doe-like eyes. I wouldn't call myself beautiful. Cute would be a better word. Like your childhood doll and your tiny pet puppy are cute. And that's where the key to my success is. Who'd suspect someone who looks closer to 18 than 25 to be an undercover cop?

The only person who'd ever figured me out had been a paranoid creep who suspected everyone he passed on the street. I was fine with that one tarnishing my record, considering I'd gathered up enough evidence to send him to court after only 2 days of following him around. I tried to get him out of my head though now, simply focusing on Jacob's back as he wove his way through the crowd. He was our number one suspect at the moment, and that was only because his alibi was the shakiest.

Thing was, it was still an alibi, and one we couldn't prove wrong. On the night of June the 1st, Emilia Jeerwater was killed, straight after coming home from a party at her job. She got poison injected into her veins as she slept – and that had been the end of her. We hadn't even found the needle used to kill her yet, that's how far behind we were in this case.

Jacob was one of her colleagues who'd been at this business party. They'd argued a little, but definitely not enough to cause a murder. Still, the only other people who talked to her there had only talked to her about how nice the wine was or what lovely weather they'd been having. And her family and friends countered every single piece of evidence we had. Which meant we'd gotten absolutely nowhere after 2 whole months of plain torture.

In fact, we'd even flown in an agent from America to help us with the case, in hopes that he'd know something. I was such a scatterbrain though that I'd already forgotten his name. And quite possibly the place for meeting him, considering I'd waited for twenty minutes and he hadn't come. I had half a mind to blame it on him but, knowing me, I'd probably just confused the parking lot with the toy store or something.

It didn't matter regardless. I worked best alone, even if we needed help as a general. I'd found in the past that having others next to me whilst working on a case alerted people as to the fact that I was hiding something. I looked innocent and like just a little girl when I talked to them alone but, having me stand with someone else gave them the chance to see the stark comparison. Obviously, being _too_ innocent made them suspect me. Which meant my savant gift had to come out.

Savants are people with a special gift, a special thing that makes them better than everyone else – and I hated it. People were always rewarding me on becoming such a good police officer at only 25, but when I looked back, all I saw were the times my carrier could've gone wrong and it didn't. _Because_ of my ability. And this got me thinking about whether or not I would've made it without it. Surely, I could've, but what if I was just good because of some intricate design of fate, and not because of me alone?

All in all, I was just happy this officer guy hadn't shown up (or that I hadn't shown up. I wasn't sure which yet), and I was getting ready to move in. Gathering all of my books up to my chest, I tightened my hands around them but loosened my arms. Then I got as close as I could to him without seeming suspicious. Slightly looking down, I checked that the floor boards were cracked in certain places, sure I could use this as an excuse for later on. When I told people I tripped on air they always looked at me funny.

Then, I shoved the tip of my shoe to the floor, forcing myself to push all my balance forward, causing me to fall on Jacob. The minute I touched his back I let go of my books completely, making sure they sprawled in every direction. All the sheets of paper I'd stuck inside the notebooks flew and bristled in the air – just like I wanted. The longer it took me to gather everything the longer I'd have to convince him enough to walk next to me.

Moving my eyes upwards, I prepared to make contact with those light green ones of Jacob, but found myself staring at someone completely different. The guy in front of me had grey eyes which seemed to go straight into my soul, searching for something. I'm not completely sure what. His black hair was dishelved at the front and the longer strands seemed to be tied back in a ponytail. That wasn't what was most notable about him though, it was how strikingly handsome he was.

It was a sort of dangerous beauty, like that of a cobra. He was lean and incredibly tall, and as he crouched down to retrieve some of my books I couldn't help but notice how every single one of his movements seemed incredibly precise.

I couldn't dwell upon it for very much longer though. It would be weird if I just kept staring at him. Regardless, I needed to get a move on so that I could make my second attempt at contact today. Taking any longer would mean having to return the next day, something I absolutely hated. Getting stuff done and over with was more my style. So I got up, shook off the dust that had accumulated on the back side of my skirt, and crouched down, collecting books as quickly as possible.

"Sorry. Gosh, I'm such an idiot. I was in a hurry and suddenly you were just there and bam. And now I'm ranting. Could today go any worse?" I was using the sentence I'd intended to say to Jacob. It just seemed apt and – if he was watching – it'd be best to stay in character so bumping into him wouldn't be considered that weird. I shouldn't have told this random stranger that though; it was an excellent sentence starter. I found if you looked at people with shimmering eyes (not necessarily filled with tears, people just took it that way) and said that exact line to them they'd find it impossible to resist the 'are you ok?' question.

"Are you ok?" Works like a charm every time. But I didn't have time to chat, I just needed to get back on Jake's tail. A crowd-bubble was forming around us and that, right there, was the issue. If Jacob was anywhere near this bubble and saw me he'd think it weird that I'd bump into him only a while later.

"Yes, fine, just very very busy. Have to go to work you know?" I think there must've been some sort of panic in my eyes because he didn't calm down to my answer like I'd hoped he would've. It was the answer I gave when I was going as 'business woman addicted to caffeine'. That one didn't work that well though, it mostly just got suspects to leave me alone. Lost girl going to work was best. People, for some reason, were attracted to that one like moths to a flame.

"You should try calming down first. Here." He passed me some of the pieces of papers, rescuing them from those who'd been trampling all over them before. They were full of baloney data and fake scribble sheets. I'd probably have to print and write them all up again now – they looked like they'd been stepped on. Jacob couldn't know that that was the case. It looked like the odds were stacking against me, I would probably have to go and just try again tomorrow.

"Thanks. Bye now." Deciding to abandon the rest of the paper, I kept going forwards. I had to pretend to go this way, as soon as I could though I'd be turning around and heading right back home. After that I'd just stare at the case folders again until night time took over the sky, just like I did every other day.

"Hey, wait! You forgot these!" I was made to stop, a hand grabbing my forearm and forcing me to a standstill. It sent tingles down my arms but I ignored it, simply turning around and giving him a questioning gaze.

"Oh, I did? Today really cannot get any worse." I could say that again.

"I'm sure it couldn't have gone that bad. I'm Victor, you?"

"Claire." Over the years I'd gotten used to my fake name but it never failed to sound weird. "And it did go that bad. I woke up late, barely had time to have breakfast or shower and then I got told I needed to bring in this assignment I haven't finished. And then look at the mess all of this is. I just-" I knew I was taking it a bit far. I liked my dramatics, I was entitled to them, _especially_ when I was acting in an investigation, so I always tried to act like my character, a hundred percent. I couldn't help myself. Luckily though, he interrupted me before I got in the world book of Guinness records for longest rant ever.

"Ok, I think I get it. Look I'll make you a deal, I take you out to coffee. That way I can make it up to you for… Bumping into you? And you get a chance to defrazzle yourself." Was this guy seriously asking me out to coffee? I wasn't normally this successful when I was _trying_ let alone when I wasn't. Deciding I had nothing to lose though, I went ahead and nodded, giving him a small smile.

"Defrazzle? Is that even a word?"

"Now it is. Now come on, I saw a place just down the road as I walked here this morning." When he mentioned hurrying I realised I was still supposed to be getting to work. Even if I'd chosen to abandon the Jake case for today because of the risk it'd suppose, Victor didn't know that.

"I still need to go to work though."

"Judging by how fast you were going before I think you're already late. Couple more minutes won't hurt, right?"

"I… Uh… Ok." I wasn't sure if I was acting my part right. It wouldn't matter though, I'd never see Victor again; he wouldn't affect my record if he thought I was weird and bipolar. No one would know. In any case, I could always use my power on him if it got out of hand.

With that thought in mind, Victor took me to the shop, talking about random things along the way. His American accent prevailed all the way through, making me remember the American partner I'd abandoned this morning. As we walked in, we got a table. No longer able to hold myself back, I asked him what'd been on my mind for the two minute walk.

"By the way, are you American?" The question sounded stupid even to me. I was beyond caring though, I'd probably never see this guy again.

"Yeah, just came in some days ago. Jetlag's killing me." Wait. My partner for the investigation came in on Monday. And I could've sworn his name starts with a V. Was it possible that we'd both been tailing the same guy and had somehow managed to crash into each other? Surely not…

"Um, I know this is weird, but what's your surname?" This was possibly the stupidest thing I'd ever done. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't even remember my partner's name. They could be the same and I'd never know. It's times like these when I wanted to hit myself over the head for only being able to remember facts about cases. It would come in so handy right about now to be able to do something aside from that.

"Benedict. Why?"

"Say it all together now."

"Huh?" I didn't blame him, I would've been confused out of my mind too. But I needed to hear it out loud as one sentence to see if it rang any bells.

"Like I'm Claire Smith. Now it's your go."

"Um… Victor Benedict?"

"There you go now…. Wait a minute, did you say Victor Benedict?" At this he nodded, but I wasn't paying him any attention. The name sounded familiar enough to be his yet there wasn't any way of making sure. The only way would be to either mention the case, which was out of the question, or… Say my real name. Surely he'd have had my name given to him if this was my future partner, so he should be able to recognise me.

"Yes, why?"

"Does the name Rune Williams say anything to you?" He tensed up when I mentioned my name, giving me the last clue I needed to complete a puzzle which shouldn't have been so confusing. If I could just remember names this situation could've been solved easily.

"No. No, of course not. _No_." Let's just say this guy would not do well as an undercover police officer. He was getting all clammed up, like he was unable to lie.

"Oh my God stop. Your lying makes my head hurt; it's _that_ bad." My comment didn't make him any less nervous. In fact, I could see sweat droplets forming on his forehead. I was ready to tell him who I was, putting the guy out of his misery, but this was too much fun.

"Why would I be lying? Ha ha ha. That's the stupid things ever! Ha-"

"One more fake laugh and the coffee mug gets stuffed down your throat." It should only take him a couple more minutes to figure out (even in his… emotional state) that my attitude had changed and that I was now completely relaxed against the chair. Miss oh-my-gosh-I'm-late-and-such-a-clutz was gone, replaced by Miss Detective. I liked the latter best, after all it wasn't put on. So I used it on anyone who knew I was part of the police. I guess that included Victor now.

"Excuse me?"

"Name's Rune Williams. Nice to meet you agent Benedict." He was left baffled at my sentence – even more than he'd been at my prior one – and in a complete state of silence. "I trust you're competent enough to make sentences, right Benedict?"

"I… Uh… You? Rune?"

"Guess not. I suppose this was a waste of time then. If you can't even work under pressure then there's no point in us working together."

"Wait wait wait. Hold on. You're telling me that the cute girl" see? Cute. Always there "I asked out to coffee is actually the person I'm going to be working with? You've got to be kidding me." This was so amusing, I was having the time of a life time muddling his mind up.

"I'm going to level it straight with you Benedict. I work undercover. I'm _good_ at working undercover. You? Not so much. So I don't think this is going to work out. We're going to have to-" Once again, he interrupted me. It was getting quite annoying by this point.

"I said _wait_. Jeez woman, can you stop ploughing with all the business stuff and actually let me breathe?" Nodding, I rolled my eyes at him, propping my feet up on the chair beside me and giving him an expectant look.

"Ok, go. What do you want to talk about, your highness?" I saw him twitch at the nickname, but it was obvious he was choosing to ignore me. To be completely honest, I would've shut myself up as well. But I liked annoying people; most of the time I couldn't, seeing how I was trying to get on the suspects' good books.

"I need a basic overview of the case-" I opened my mouth to tell him to just bloody well read the file, when he continued, shooting me a glare that I knew clearly meant 'let me finish'. " _from_ an agent directly involved with the case. That'd be you. And I also want to discuss this whole you being too good for me crap. Look, you can work undercover if you want. I'll just help you interpret the results afterwards.

"I'm here for that and when we arrest the criminal – that's it. So you don't have to worry, _princess_ , I won't bother you." No one had ever been that understanding when I'd told them going solo was my style, they'd all just told me that I was being stupid and childish. That was another downfall of looking too young, people constantly compared you to moody teenagers or stroppy toddlers. Victor had been the first person (aside from the big boss man, cause that guy loved me) to properly treat me like an adult. And I absolutely loved it.

"You know what, Benedict? I've decided I like you."

"Are you kidding me? You come out with that _now_?"

"Don't test me, I can just as easily change my mind the other way." Thing was, I very much could. _That's_ what I hated about people's prejudgment of me being like a little kid. That, most of the time, they were right. I had been described as absolutely brilliant by tons of people – when they only looked at my reports. When they had a conversation with me though, they described me as someone who needs to have their way (always) and never takes no for an answer. Just a child with the body and mental capacity of a 25 year old.

I guessed I was ok with that though. It was me, and if to be amazing at deduction I had to be shit at real life, then that was fine by me. People could make their stupid assumptions and treat me badly; I didn't care. I would sit with my feet propped up on a chair, I'd stop listening to others if what they said didn't interest me, and I _would_ deal out unnecessary comments like lollipop sticks. One day, someone would be able to put up with me – the full me, not just the childish part or the great detective part – and that person would be worth spending the rest of my life with.

My soulfinder.

 **I'll probably be uploading the next chapter soon (as it's already written), so I'll see you guys then**

 **StarsGlow out :)**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! This is chapter 2 and it's basically just another chapter introducing the main characters and stuff. Sorry 'bout that.**

 **Also, just to make it very clear, I have no idea about police investigations or scientific research. So if any of this is wrong please just drop me a comment about it and I'll fix it right away. I hope that won't be the case but, better safe than sorry :)**

 **Anyway, enjoy your reading :)**

"Rune we've talked about this before. You're working with him and that's it." The big boss man had been sitting in his office when I'd come in half an hour earlier, ready to turn on the charm and beg him to let me work alone. After talking with Victor at the coffee shop for twenty more minutes I'd decided that my earlier statement about liking him was correct – too correct. I was myself around him automatically, I could hardly stop myself from being all out blunt and childish. If he was anywhere around me whilst I had to be a little dolly I'd be screwed.

"But, sir, he distracts me, I just know I won't be able to focus whilst he's around." I was even better at not being my bitchy self when I was around my boss, and I'd known him for three years now.

"Is this your special way of saying you like the guy? Because, honestly Rune, if it is, you shouldn't try to get away. Actually live your life for once." Jamie, my boss, was for those types of things, especially when it came to me. He was aware that I was quite anti-social and, as such, preferred to stay away from people. So he tried to get me to do the opposite at every chance he got, like right now, for example.

"It is _not_ my way of saying that I find him appealing."

"In any case, he's one of the best that the FBI has to offer. And you're one of the best that we have. Imagine the possibilities this team has, you could end up solving this case without very much difficulty."

"I don't need help. And I definitely don't need Benedict's." At this he sighed, shaking his head at me as his grey hair got in his eyes. He pushed it back quickly, making sure I could very well see the expression in them. He was bemused; completely exasperated with having to deal with the puzzle that was me.

"Look Rune we can talk about this another day, ok?"

"I refuse to-"

"Just get out of my office." Glaring at him, I marched out, already yanking my hair out of my plat. That was the easiest way for someone to tell if I was going to be nice or not. I always put my hair up in braids when I went on a job, so I'd generally be sweet Rune. When I was just working in here though, my hair went down straight away. I couldn't be bothered making myself seem all cutesy if I was just going to be talking with colleagues, who thought they had me all figured out.

They saw my wild hair and straight forward personality and they all made their conclusions. Either believing that I was a spoilt brat, who only had such a high up position because I was in the boss' good graces, or that life had screwed me up so bad that I just hated humanity, and was taking out all my anger on criminals I put in jail. I let them think what they may – I couldn't find it in me to care about their opinions. The only ones that mattered were those of suspects, and I could make them love me just fine.

On my way out I toppled against Victor, who was showing the police officer at the front his badge and explaining that he came from the FBI. Being the one who saw him first, I sped up my pace, hoping to avoid him at all costs. I didn't want to deal with any distractions right now; I was going to go home and I was going to focus on the case, nothing else. I'd been doing that for the past 8 weeks, I could keep it up long enough to solve it.

Unfortunately though, he saw me, attempting to start a conversation with a "Rune, hey, what-" as I practically ran past him and out into the chilly November air. In my desperate attempt to escape from the office I didn't even realise how cold it was, and that I should probably put a coat on. My thin jacket wasn't doing much from stopping the chill from seeping in. But I could deal with that later, once I was out of the office's range.

As I made my way down the street which would eventually lead to my house, I wasn't sure if Victor was following me. He wouldn't though, that'd just be stupid. He'd probably just turned back to the police officer on patrol, smiled, and went inside to get a debriefing on the case from Jamie. Despite wanting to believe that more than anything, the footsteps behind me told another story. I looked back quickly, only to confirm my fears. He _was_ right on my tail. Judging by the determined look on his face, he wasn't letting me go any time soon either.

"Rune, we need to work together on this." Beyond caring about making a scene, I started sprinting.

"No we do not!"

"I was told-"

"I don't care! I work on my own and I can figure this case out just _fine_!" I was brought to a halt by a hand for the second time today. I was prepared to shout my head off but when I turned around and saw Victor's angry eyes, I clamped my lips shut.

"Who cares if you're one of the best? We all need help some times and it takes a bigger man to admit that you can't do it alone than to remain stubborn." His sentence broke my resolve to go straight home. Before I could even blink, my instincts had taken over and now _I_ was the one who was forcibly pushing against the other's chest, despite the fact that his height towered well over mine. Enraged, I forced myself to calm down. Instead of shouting, I used my steely cold voice that made so many of my colleagues repent from talking to me.

"I'm going to make this extremely clear. You're not the first to have told me that, and you're certainly not going to be the last. If you think you're special for being able to tell that I'm just a selfish arsehole, then you're the idiot. What? You think I don't know? I've just learnt to live with it, so don't come barging in here like you can make me change my mind." With that I yanked myself out of his hold, marching away, Victor left in my wake. I'd never told anyone just how un-okay I was with my situation, but it was alright, I wasn't intending on ever seeing Benedict again.

Happy with what I'd achieved, although at the same time sad for some reason, I continued the rest of the way back without any further interruptions. Whilst I went down street after street I couldn't help but notice people's faces. They didn't even spare me a second glance. It was to be expected, seeing how I made sure that I was never recognised by anyone here, but it still hurt. It did every time, no matter how many times I told myself that it didn't matter. Of course it did, I had no friends. The closest I had to that was my boss, and that was only because he _had_ to talk to me.

I'd been ignoring all of those feelings for quite a while now, but thanks to the talk Benedict had given me, it was bubbling up to the surface. Just another reason to hate him. Taking my keys out of my purse, I forcibly opened the door, slamming it shut behind me. The sight that awaited me in my apartment did nothing for my mental health – every surface was littered with pictures and information on the suspects. Their interests, their family and friends, everything. It was sad that I knew more about them than I did about myself, and I still had no idea who'd killed him.

They all had mental stability, looking sane enough to not be a cold blooded killer, but it could just be them making us believe that. Which was why today, my first day gathering first-hand information on them, was so important to the investigation. Seeing how I wasn't going to get anything done on that front today though, I turned back to the paperwork awaiting me on the couch. I grabbed Jacob's file, beginning to read what I'd already looked over half a billion times.

Yet after only half an hour, I was ready to throw the paper wallet at a wall. I was practically able to quote everything in there; reading it was pointless. I was getting nowhere and I'd been getting nowhere for quite a while now. I wanted so desperately to call it a day, to say that it wouldn't matter anyway, regardless of how much I kept trying. That would mean giving up though, and I wasn't ready to admit that I was stuck in mud. So I continued to work my way through the file, sighing to myself every couple of minutes.

By that point I would've gratefully taken anything as a distraction, but life seemed to be against me, my apartment remaining silent and peaceful. It'd been what I'd been begging for a couple hours ago, when Victor wouldn't leave me alone, but now I just wanted him to barge in here with his annoyingly gorgeous face, forcing me to let go of the case. The idea of lying down and dropping the folder was such a nice one, that even having Victor there wouldn't ruin it.

Unfortunately, my distraction from the case came from a call, telling me to go right back to the office and work with Benedict. On the case. I had asked for an excuse to get me out of studying it again and had instead gotten yet another reason to keep re-reading it.

"Rune Williams speaking."

"Why the hell are you not down here?"

"Um… What?" Surprised, I glanced at my phone, finding that the caller ID matched with the person's voice. It was Jamie.

"You heard me Rune. I want you down here, right now. I don't care what excuses you have against it."

"I'm working from home, but thanks for calling." His exasperated sigh reached me from the other end of the line as a smile tugged on my lips. It was too easy to annoy Jamie some times. He was in charge of a whole sector of the British police, and he hadn't gotten there because of luck. He didn't like losing, in fact, he'd always do everything in his power to prevent it. So if you wanted to grate his nerves and test his patience, all you had to do was go against his direct orders.

"I'm not kidding, we pay you to work eight hours a day. You don't do this, you're fired." The smile fell right off my lips as I glared holes into my living room wall.

"I'm working from home. I thought I'd already left that perfectly clear, Jamie."

"You can say it as many times as you want Rune, I still don't care. I normally let things like this slip because I know you don't get as much done when you're in office. But not this time Rune. I know you're trying your damn hardest to solve this case, and I want someone to help you."

"I've told you a dozen times Jamie, I don't need-"

"But you do." There was a shocked silence from me. I was quick to regain my composure when insults were thrown at me thanks to past experiences. Yet this was my boss, the only man I'd trusted for 3 years, non-stop. It was like a blow right to the chest. "I'm sorry Rune." Without letting him finish whatever explanation he had for me, I hung up, marched straight to my foyer and picked up my coat.

I was going to go to the office, but not because of what he'd said. I had just spent an hour reading that thing over and over again repeatedly. I didn't require his assistance, although some inspiration would be nice. That was the only thing I'd need from him; I refused to acknowledge his intellect, or the fact that it may possibly be superior to mine.

When I got there I was greeted by Victor's smug face and Jamie's shocked one.

"Rune? I thought you wouldn't-"

"Well, you thought wrong. Benedict, I'm getting myself a coffee, you can get set up in my office." Without saying anything else I passed them by, heading straight for the coffee machine. I wasn't a caffeine addict per se, but I certainly did need at least one a day if I wanted to stay awake. And today had already sucked the energy out of me, despite it only being two in the afternoon, so I could excuse this being my second one today. Actually, counting the one I had with Victor before, this would be my third…

Ten minutes later met me in my office, warm beverage in hand and ready to begin. The case file had been opened, its contents strewn all over my table, with Victor studying what seemed to be the section dedicated to the autopsy very closely.

"Hello." Startled by the fact that he'd sensed my presence, whilst still examining the piece of paper in his hands, I jumped. This caused the spillage of some of my coffee, and a very annoyed groan from me.

"Don't startle me like that. You managed to get me to-"

"It says here that the poison used to kill Emilia was Secobarbital. Is that correct?" Setting my mug down on the table I glanced at him strangely, how had that change in the conversation topic even happened? I was so confused I couldn't even be annoyed at him for using my boss to get me to come back.

"Yes, it's used in insomnia pills or sedatives before surgeries. In large doses it can cause death. It says so right there, on the file that you're reading. I guess you're just too stupid to read _all_ the information given to you." I sat down in my comfy chair, now facing Victor directly and wondering why he was talking about that part of the case. It had already been studied in depth by other agents. It's not as if we'd missed something. The possibility of that was remote.

"Who has access to it?" He finally lifted his eyes from the file, allowing me to get a first seat view of his eyes. They were the most beautiful colour ever. I would've kept gazing at them for infinity if I could, but Victor's expectant look forced me out of my reverie, reminding me I had to answer his question. And that I was annoyed at him, not falling in love with the guy.

"No one. The three people who talked to her at the business party were accountants and her family are either vets or still studying in school. No doctors or nurses in there." Did he think we hadn't thought of that before?

"Does Secobarbital have any other uses apart from anaesthesia?"

"I… I…"

"What?" I didn't want to have to say it. I got the urge to simply kick him out of my office but decided that would be immature, even for me. I'd just have to deal with the consequences of not doing my research properly, unfortunately.

"I don't know." I spat the sentence out as if it were acid, burning me inside. They were my three most hated words, especially when they came together in that exact combination.

"Look it up then." Without asking for permission he turned the screen of my computer around, turning it on quickly. That wasn't what surprised me though, it was the fact that he wasn't rubbing an 'I told you so' all over my face right now. Because I'd obviously skipped over the type of poison, thinking it not important after discovering that any of the suspects had the same possibility to have gotten it. "Password?" I typed it in, still confused at his antics. I thought he'd at least want to tell me that everyone needed help, just like he'd done before.

"Are you going to look it up in the forensics database? I can log you in if you don't have a login yet."

"Not necessary, google's got me covered."

"Google?"

"Yeah, you know, that search engine which-"

"I know what google is. I meant, why would you use it? You've got a pretty complete database where you can look up _anything_. It has everything you need in there, so the internet is not a necessary part of this investigation." Scoffing at him, I propped my feet up on the extra chair I kept beside my desk for those exact purposes. "You're stupider than I thought."

Instead of recoiling in shock, he threw my words right back at me. "And you're just as cynical as I thought you to be."

"Your point?" If he believed insulting me was going to get him anywhere, then he was going down the wrong path.

"That you haven't even let me explain. Obviously, if your 'amazing' forensics database hasn't told you before all the uses of secobarbital, then looking at it again isn't going to help. We need another perspective." Then, nodding to himself as if he'd just accomplished a great feat, he proceeded to open up an internet tab and look up 'secobarbital uses'. I decided to simply ignore his jab, knowing my victory would be much sweater by letting him discover just how full of crap the internet was on his own.

The first site he went on told him what we already knew, so I prepared myself to declare myself the winner of this stupid battle. However, on the second page (which turned out to be Wikipedia) there was a tiny section at the end of "Use in physician assisted dying" which told us it was sometimes used to put animals down. And James had been to a farm with Emilia a week before her demise.

"Oh sh-"

"Let's refrain from swearing." Smiling to himself as he scanned the contents of the website, he rubbed his hands together, allowing me to see the gears turning in his head. "This is more than good. This is amazing."

"You know about James' trip to the farm?"

"Of course I do." He took a deep breath and then started packing everything he'd set out on the table away. "There's about twenty ways we can turn this to our favour, Rune. We can't go wrong." That seemed to be a code for 'put your coat on', because ten minutes later I was expected to be ready to leave and go over to Manour Farm. I sipped the rest of my coffee as quick as I could, picking up my coat as I left the building, Victor leading the way.

"What will we do there though? We have no other information apart from this, you're rushing things."

"You're forgetting that there's no way this can go wrong for us."

"No, _you're_ forgetting that I work under cover. If someone recognises me because of this little trip it'll be game over for me."

"Relax, we'll be fine." No further explanation seemed necessary on his part, so I simply trod next to him as we made our way to his car. Once we got there, Victor's eyes started glinting, a breath-taking smile taking over his features. Despite being momentarily dazed by the expression on his face, I gained enough force of will to ask him another question.

"You didn't answer me before. What are we going to do once we get there?"

"We play."

"With whom?" Had he lost his mind?

"With them."

 **I don't have chapter 3 written up yet so that one might take longer to go up but, hopefully, it'll be up by the end of this week at the very latest.**

 **StrasGlow out :)**


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